Boy walking home struck by South Gate police car

A 13-year-old boy was left injured and badly bruised after being struck by a South Gate police car as he was walking home from school.

Michael Palacios has a severely injured leg and a lot of bruises, but he's happy to be back at home with his mother. He said he was walking home from school Thursday afternoon when he decided to cross the street at the intersection of Long Beach Boulevard and Willow Place.

Palacios says two cars stopped so he could cross the street at the crosswalk, but he was blindsided by the police car.

"I didn't see the car coming and I couldn't hear no sirens or anything like that, and he came and he hit me with his headlight in my leg and I flew into the air," the boy said. "I remember falling on the floor face first."

Palacio's mother, Darlene Baca, arrived at the scene minutes after the accident. She said her son is always careful when he crosses the street.

"It's really upsetting to see my son going through all the pain that he's been going through, when he's crying and he's in pain, I can't do anything about it," she said with tears in her eyes.

South Gate police said one of their officers was heading to a disturbance call, but did not have his lights and sirens on when he struck Palacios.

"If he was going to speed around through traffic if he had a call, he should have at least put his siren on or honked through traffic because my son didn't hear anything," Baca said.

Baca said South Gate police have given her little information about the crash that left her son with injuries, which will likely take months to heal.

"I, like, feel sad," Palacios said. "Mostly, I'm kind of mad at the cop that hit me because he didn't come and apologize to me when I was at the hospital."

The South Gate Police Department said the California Highway Patrol is handling the investigation. It also said more information on the accident will be released Monday.